Bible Course turns to the Old Testament
Module 2 of our Diocesan Bible Course is underway on Tuesday evenings in St Donard’s Parish Centre, Bloomfield. Most of the class have completed Module 1 (The Time has Come. An Overview of the New Testament) and have come back for more!
Module 2 is entitled Knowing Noah from Nathan. An overview of the Old Testament, and over ten weeks the class will survey all 39 books with an eye to the history of Israel. They will look at how the Old Testament has been organised and the different types of literature we find there.
The first week was devoted to the ‘big picture’ and introduced the Pentateuch before course teacher Josh Hooker dived into Genesis. Josh has found that for most on the course the Old Testament is largely unexplored, difficult territory which is an excellent reason for getting to grips with it.
More importantly, however, and foundational to the whole course is the conviction that the Old Testament remains important for Christians today. In fact, that it is Christian Scripture.
“The Old Testament is the Word of God that points us to Jesus and so it is vital to our understanding of the salvation story,” says Josh. Indeed, as a couple of class members pointed out, the first three chapters of Genesis contain creation, sin, the cure and revelation!
Each session is interactive and relaxed with the chance to ask questions, share your own thoughts and have a cup of coffee together. It is not academic and has a strong devotional element.
Why not join the course?
The modules are stand–alone so you can pick up the course for the first time with Module 3 which will be coming in January 2023.
Module 3: Behind the Scenes. The who, what, where and when of the New Testament
Find out more by downloading a leaflet here.
About Josh
Josh Hooker is a Crosslinks Mission Partner who is on secondment to the diocese. Josh has been teaching the Bible in southern Africa for the past 17 years and is currently involved in teaching and training in Down and Dromore.